Monday, April 18, 2011

Possible Solutions for Resolving this Situation; which One is the Most Feasible?

This conflict has only begun to receive major attention for the past half century due to the dramatic increase in immigrants from the Maghreb since World War II. Though this may seem like ample time to find a resolution for the debate, quite the opposite is true. As we have seen, the situation for the people from the Maghreb is still quite poor, as noted by the vast majority still stuck in the HLMs.

This leads one to ponder how the French would define “solution” in terms of possible solutions for resolving the situation. Through recent legislation such as les lois Pasqua and l’affaire du voile, it could be argued that the French’s idea of a solution is to simply hinder immigration as much as possible from North Africa and to ban Islamic religious expression, thus eliminating the “source” of the problem and forcing those immigrants already in France to (at least on a visual level) to assimilate into the French (Christian) culture rather than allowing them to hold so tightly onto their own culture and religion.

If we observe the literature that is being produced by the Beurs, it is quite easy to see that they are also extremely conflicted on this issue and do not seem to offer a feasible solution. In many cases, the literature suggests that they are simply trying to find a place in their current society, but at what cost? Their plight, however, is quite evident in books such as Kiffe Kiffe Demain, where the author explains her daily struggles and the ridicule that she often faces from French European peers due to mainly her socioeconomic status.

I think this issue is of the utmost importance because it literally has the ability to splinter the French society if a resolution is not found. Neither side is correct to enforce their religion on others or attempting to suppress the other’s rights. The most difficult thing for them to be able to do is to be able to accept each other for who they are and be able to find a middle ground in which neither side is oppressing the other.